Cricketer turned commentator Ravi Shastri said India’s opposition to the Decision Review System has been vindicated following several controversial umpiring decisions during the first two Ashes Tests between England and Australia.

“What [we] have said has been vindicated. I said two or three years ago, ‘Wait until the s- -t hits the roof in a massive series, then you watch what will happen,’” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted the former India captain as saying.

The Ashes is Test cricket’s marquee event. After several moments of confusion and controversial dismissals in the first two games of the current series, many observers would agree that the “s- -t” has indeed hit the roof, or perhaps, the fan.

In cricket, if a team feels the umpire has made the wrong decision, say on a leg-before-wicket or a catch, it has the opportunity to refer the call to a third umpire who then helps make a final judgment based on video evidence.

India accepts the use of some technology and referrals, but it has expressed doubts over aspects of the DRS, such as ball-tracking and Hot Spot, which aims to prove if a batsman has hit the ball. Critics of the DRS system also say players should be left out of the review process, leaving only umpires to refer appeals on which they are uncertain.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is the most powerful body in the sport, and its stance against the DRS has prevented it being used mandatorily worldwide. Mr. Shastri is a committee member of the BCCI.

The umpire, rather than the technology, is often to blame for poor decisions. On some occasions, it’s the fault of both. In the first Ashes Test, England’s Jonathan Trott was deemed out even though crucial side-on footage wasn’t available as the broadcaster was replaying a previous dismissal. The third umpire Marais Erasmus still ruled that he was out despite not having all the evidence.

“It’s just amazing how much doubt there is around now about decisions, particularly with this DRS, it doesn’t seem to be [giving] more clarity to decision-making,” former Australia cricketer Adam Gilchrist said in an interview with the BBC during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s in London.

“That spontaneous magic has gone. A raised finger of an umpire, that was final and you couldn’t challenge it… We knew that at the start of the day, you get some good, you get some bad, just deal with it,” he said.

Australia has used its reviews poorly in this Ashes series, wasting them on appeals against decisions that were correct and being left without the option of referring more uncertain calls to the third umpire. A glaring example came when Stuart Broad was given not out after edging the ball to slip. Australia had already used its two reviews so was unable to appeal and have Aleem Dar’s decision overturned.

The use of technology in sports is hotly debated. Rugby union and tennis are among those who have adopted it to general approval, but the use of goal-line technology in soccer, for example, has been held back because of concerns about its impact on the flow of the game and the ability to use it universally. The technology has been phased in at international tournaments this year and will be used at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Debates will continue on cricket’s DRS, and the mistakes in the ongoing Ashes haven’t done the system any favors. But it won’t go away. The International Cricket Council issued a statement after the first Test, backing the umpires and the review system.

It said the umpires made 72 decisions during the match, of which seven were assessed to have been errors. Four of these were corrected through the use of the DRS. The correct decision percentage before reviews was 90.3% but rose to 95.8% as a result of the DRS, the statement said.

“While the ICC has complete faith in the ability of its umpires, our confidence in technology is also strengthened by the fact that there was an increase in the number of correct decisions in the Trent Bridge Test through the use of the DRS,” it said.

“Technology was introduced with the objective of eradicating the obvious umpiring errors, and to get as many correct decisions as possible. If it can help increase the correct decisions by 5.5%, then it is a good outcome, but we must continue to strive to improve umpiring and the performance of the DRS,” it added.

Mr. Shastri appears unconvinced.

“People can make their own judgment now, they’ve watched it,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted him as saying.

In his interview with the BBC, Mr. Gilchrist said the higher percentage of correct decisions came at a cost. “Everyone tells me 95%-98% of umpiring decisions now are correct and so on, but at what cost to the game? I think the game is a little bit poorer for it,” he said.

This week, Simon Taufel focused on the topic when he became the first umpire to deliver the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture in London. “The technology genie has been let out of bottle and it’s not going to go back in,” he said.

“We need to embrace change in our game and be careful about how we shape the game and ensure that every time we change something, we are adding value while balancing the benefits against the costs,” the former umpire said.

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